Swift Current postpones election; province gives municipalities option due to storm

Swift Current has taken the Saskatchewan government up on its offer to municipalities and school divisions to postpone Monday’s elections due to the weekend storm.

BREAKING NEWS: The Swift Current municipal and school board elections have been moved to Thursday, November 12 to allow voters safe access to Polling Stations. All polls are closed today.
READ: https://t.co/2XAcBqQ7Y6 pic.twitter.com/exbpKsEha7

— Swift Current (@City_SC) November 9, 2020

Minister of Government Relations Lori Carr signed a ministerial order Monday giving each municipality’s appointed returning officer the power to postpone balloting.

“If in the opinion of a Returning Officer appointed under the Act, the weather conditions on November 9, 2020, impede the ability for voters to attend the poll(s) in order to vote, including in situations where voting day polls have already opened, the Returning Officer may postpone the general election of the municipality, school division or ward, as the case may be, scheduled to take place on November 9, 2020 to a date on or before November 25, 2020,” the order read.

The government said returning officers should make the decision to postpone with caution. If the choice is made, the returning officers are to communicate it to residents.

The snowstorm caused road closures around the province. In cities such as Regina and Saskatoon, snow removal crews are to make providing access to polling stations a priority, but some locales may not have that capability.

“The safety of citizens is the first priority of the Government of Saskatchewan,” the release said. “In signing this order, that safety can also continue to be ensured at a local level during these elections.”